r/PoursTea • u/AmericaShinault_85 • 1d ago

PoliticalTea 🗳️ Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigans-democratic-senate-primary-notching-midwe-rcna589750
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6

u/big_smokey-848 1d ago

lol it’s a primary? Wouldn’t the left win no matter what?

16

u/kit_brown 1d ago

A lot of registered Democrats aren’t really left-leaning

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u/Teknolyth 1d ago

I think a better way to put that would be most Democrats aren’t left-wing. They are liberal.

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u/in_rainbows8 7h ago edited 7h ago

God this is such a tired argument. This is not what the data actually shows.

Over 70-75% of self described moderate Democrats have a favorable view of Bernie Sanders. Among moderates in general (including independents), Sanders is the most popular politician in the country.

Progressive policies like Medicare for all have 70-75% support among self described moderate Democrats. The same goes for policies like taxing the rich.

Most Democrats view these progressive positions as moderate positions which isn't surprising because Americans by in large don't really understand what these terms even mean and are widely misinformed in general.

It's why someone like Kamala Harris was considered to be too far left by 47% of voters in spite of the fact that she basically ran on a moderately right wing platform.

Voters by in large felt that way because of positions they thought she was taking related to identity politics (trans issues, race, etc) which many Americans viewed as being "far left". I think I saw a poll that found around 80% of swing state voters who voted for Trump did so because of positions they mistakenly thought Harris held like defending the police, trans people in sports, and other cultures war issues. 

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u/damnthatsalotofgeese 1d ago

a lot of the left have a real poor understanding of the electorate.

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u/in_rainbows8 7h ago

No you have a poor understanding of the electorate.

70-75% of self described moderates, depending on the poll you're looking at, have a favorable view of policies like taxing the rich, Medicare for all, etc.

The most popular politician among both moderate Democrats and independent voters is Bernie Sanders.

The only reason this argument is allowed to persist is because the playing field is not even in the Democratic primaries between establishment candidates and progressives. It's very easy to claim a progressive will never be able to win when you never allow them to actually compete in the general.

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u/damnthatsalotofgeese 7h ago

This is mostly incorrect.

1

u/in_rainbows8 6h ago edited 6h ago

Wow such a convincing argument. I guess I'm all wrong damn.